The Route nationale 16, or RN16, is a trunk road ( nationale) in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

crossing Picardy north of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

Reclassification

The majority of the road has now been re-classified as the RD 1016 and RD 916.

Route

Pierrefitte-sur-Seine to Clermont (0km - 66km)

The road starts in

Pierrefitte-sur-Seine Pierrefitte-sur-Seine (, literally ''Pierrefitte on Seine'') is a commune in the Seine-Saint-Denis department and Île-de-France region of France. Today forming part of the northern suburbs of Paris, Pierrefitte lies from the centre of the Fre ...

, north of Paris as a branch of the RN 1, as the Avenue de la Division Leclerc and bypasses the town of

Sarcelles Sarcelles () is a commune in the northern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Sarcelles is a sub-prefecture of the Val-d'Oise department and the seat of the arrondissement of Sarcelles. In the south of the commune ...

and heads into open countryside crossing the RN 104 ( La Francilienne). The road passes the castle and estate of Épinay-Champlâtreux and the '' Parc naturel régional Oise-Pays de France''. The road bypasses

Luzarches Luzarches () is a commune in the Val-d'Oise department in Île-de-France in northern France. Luzarches station has rail connections to Sarcelles and Paris. Just south of the town is a monument on the D316, which commemorates the closest distan ...

and plunges through the ''Forêt de Coye'' and then on to

Chantilly Chantilly may refer to: Places France *Chantilly, Oise, a city located in the Oise department **US Chantilly, a football club *Château de Chantilly, a historic château located in the town of Chantilly United States * Chantilly, Missou ...

. At Chantilly the road crosses the river of Nonette and on through woodland to

Creil Creil is a commune in the Oise department in northern France. The Creil station is an important railway junction. History Archaeological remains in the area include a Neolithic site as well as a late Iron Age necropolis, perhaps belonging ...

in the

Oise Oise ( ; ; pcd, Oése) is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise. Inhabitants of the department are called ''Oisiens'' () or ''Isariens'', after the Latin name for the river, Isara. It had a population of 829,41 ...

valley. The road crosses the valley up the Brèche valley to Clermont, The road has a junction here with the RN 31 from Beauvais to

Compiègne Compiègne (; pcd, Compiène) is a commune in the Oise department in northern France. It is located on the river Oise. Its inhabitants are called ''Compiégnois''. Administration Compiègne is the seat of two cantons: * Compiègne-1 (with 19 ...

Clermont to Amiens (66km to 132km)

The road has now been downgraded to the RD 916 north of Clermont. The road initially follows the Arné valley north. At

Saint-Just-en-Chaussée Saint-Just-en-Chaussée ( pcd, Saint-Just-in-Cœuchie) is a commune in the Oise department in northern France. Saint-Just-en-Chaussée station has rail connections to Amiens, Creil and Paris. History Its name refers to Saint Justus of Beauvais ...

it follows the course of an old

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

road. The road leaves the valley and heads through open country to the town of Breteuil where it meets the RN 1 (former RN 181). The RN 16 has been renamed RN 1 (now RD 1001) until the town of

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...

Amiens to Dunkerque (132km to 287km)

North of Amiens, the RN 16 has been renamed RN 25 until the town of

Doullens Doullens (; pcd, Dourlin; former nl, Dorland) is a commune in the Somme department, Hauts-de-France, France. Its inhabitants are called ''Doullennais'' and ''Doullennaises''. Geography Doullens is situated on the N25 road, in the northern ...

. The road continues north numbered as RD 916. The road passes the market town of

Frévent Frévent () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. Geography A farming town situated in the valley of the Canche river, west of Arras, at the junction of the D946, the D939 and the D941 roads. ...

and the river

Canche The river Canche (; nl, Kwinte) is one of the rivers that flow from the plateau of southern Boulonnais and Picardy, into the English Channel, of which the Somme is the largest example. It is long. The basin of the Canche extends to and lies i ...

. The road crosses the former RN 39 (now RD 939) south of the town of

Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise (, literally ''Saint-Pol on Ternoise''; vls, Sint-Pols-aan-de-Ternas) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. It is the seat of the canton of Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise. The population of the town i ...

. The road has been renamed as RN 41 (that has since been downgraded as RD 941) before becoming the RD 916 once more. The road continues north to the town of

Lillers Lillers (; vls, Lillaar) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. Geography A small farming and light industrial town situated some 15 km northwest of Béthune and 40 km west of Lille, at ...

and a junction with the A26 autoroute (Junction 5). The town had a junction with the N43 (now RD 943) from Calais to

Douai Douai (, , ,; pcd, Doï; nl, Dowaai; formerly spelled Douay or Doway in English) is a city in the Nord département in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. Located on the river Scarpe some from Lille and from Arras, Dou ...

. The road crosses the River Lys and then ''Forêt de Nieppe''. The road then passes through the town of

Hazebrouck Hazebrouck (, nl, Hazebroek, , vls, Oazebroeke) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France. It was a small market town in Flanders until it became an important railway junction in the 1860s. West Flemish was the usual language until 1 ...

where it meets the RN 42. 4 km to the north the road turns north west. The road passes the town of

Cassel Cassel may refer to: People * Cassel (surname) Places ;France * Cassel, Nord, a town and commune in northern France ** Battle of Cassel (1071) ** Battle of Cassel (1328) ** Battle of Cassel (1677) ;Germany * Cassel, Germany, a city in Hesse re ...

and the ''Mont des Récollets'' (159m). The road passes

Wormhout Wormhout (; before 1975: ''Wormhoudt''; vls, Wormout) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Several people in Wormhout still speak West Flemish, a local dialect of Dutch and the traditional language of the region, while Frenc ...

, crosses the A25 autoroute where the road meets with the RN 28 (now RD 928). It then enters the town of Dunkerque.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:016 Routes nationales in France